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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: net · pit · coach · march · branch · shower · press · ball

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. ball — a dance
  3. press — to push
  4. press — a publisher
  5. pit — a hole
  6. branch — a division
  7. press — newspapers
  8. net — after costs
  9. shower — to wash
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. march — music
  12. net — for catching
  13. march — the month
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pit — in a race
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. shower — rain
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. ball — a great time
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. net — in sport
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com